No cracks in N.L. offshore choppers: Cougar

A problem with Sikorsky helicopters used by the European offshore oil industry has not been found in the same choppers used in Canada.

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency directive on Friday saying that cracks have been found in parts of the Sikorsky S-92A that attach the main gearbox to the chopper's body.

In one case, a foot that attaches the helicopter's main gearbox to the fuselage was completely detached from a chopper.

EASA says the problem could lead to loss of control of the helicopter.

"We have seen no evidence whatsoever of this issue in our helicopters," said Christian Kittleson, the communications director for the VIH aviation group that operates more than 80 helicopters in Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cougar Helicopters, the company that operated the Sikorsky S-92A chopper that crashed into the ocean southeast of St. John's in March of this year, is a division of VIH.

A problem with the main gearbox that resulted in loss of oil pressure has been cited as a possible cause of the crash that killed 17 people.

Earlier this fall, a letter from Sikorsky advised S-92A operators to visually inspect the chopper's gearbox mounting feet every 10 hours of operation.

Kittleson says Cougar is carrying out those inspections after four hours of flying.

"We're fully complying with the inspections," he said. "In fact, we're exceeding the standards and doing more inspections than required."

Union raises concerns

Leaders of the union that represents more than 700 of Newfoundland and Labrador's 1,200 offshore oil workers says the S-92A's design should be revisited.

"People are shaking their heads," said Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union representative Sheldon Peddle. "They're like, 'what is going on here with the helicopters?' There's no easy fix, but I would certainly like to see the helicopters repaired, or the design fixed so that we don't see these kinds of flaws that have come up in the last year."

LastMarch, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instructed owners of Sikorsky S-92A helicopters to cancel flights until they replaced a component thatwas associated withthe fatal crash off Newfoundland.

The emergency directive was issued because of "the failure of two main gearbox filter bowl assembly mounting studs [that were] found broken during a fatal accident investigation in Canada," the FAA said in a statement issued March 23.

The footing cracksreported this fall occurred in Sikorsky S-92A helicoptersthat ferry European offshore workers to platforms in Britain's North Sea.

"No problems have been reported in any other geographic region," wrote Sikorsky spokesman Paul Jackson, in an email sent to CBC News Monday, Oct. 26.